I am thoroughly enjoying the motherhood posts this week. It is refreshing to see a much more beautiful view of motherhood than how it is so often reduced and degraded these days.
And there's something so profound about an 84-year old woman missing her mother the most. Our earthly parents can truly be a wonderful representation of the divine nurturing that our God will one day fulfill. Until then, we cling to our temporary depictions of this love that are there to show us that we have a deeper longing for a love even more complete, and when we find a close image of this promise, we will miss it dearly until we are called home again and can feel this love in all its glory.
Also, I keep trying to give myself these reminders--that one day I will no longer see the people I so enjoy seeing now. That one day I'll only be able to call my mother through a prayer, or hear her voice through a recording, or see her face in a picture. That my relationships will shift and change drastically by the time my journey is complete. That the people I love most in the here and now will one day be distant, faded memories. And I suppose that sounds like a discouraging thought, but I find it important to keep close in mind, because if I don't, then I will fail to appreciate these relationships before it's too late. How tragic it would be to look up in 30 years filled with regret for a person I didn't cherish as much as I should have. How heartbreaking it would be to lose someone without acknowledging how nice it was to find them. And I am certainly excited for all of the faces I shall meet tomorrow, but I can't even imagine how much I'll miss the faces of today.
Anyway, I've rambled on for long enough but I love how much your article gave me to think about, and I appreciate the reminder to value the amazing people I have in my life and not take them for granted, especially my mother as we celebrate all that mothers do for us this weekend.
Your ramblings, as you call them, are really wonderful thoughts. Thank you for sharing them. It was a profound and sobering moment when my neighbor shared with me how much she missed her mother. I've had it in the back of my mind since then. I've been thinking about how Love and Time seem to work together by pulling in opposite directions. Love sees the person dense with layered Time: when I see my children, I see them as they were from their first day until now. I see my parents as they were when I was little and as they are now all at once. All that Time and Love makes them a solid presence in my life. They feel almost immovable. But Time is pulling them away and me. We are changing and drifting at different speeds on the same river. Sometimes we are neck and neck, sometimes further apart. Eventually, one of us will pull into harbor and tie off and the other will be left to drift further down.
That's the image I've been thinking about since my neighbor shared that with me, the density of a person's life, the weight of Love and Time. That's the feeling of Home, right? A place we have loved and spent time. Or part of it, I think.
Anyway, thank you for reading. I'm really glad it gave you some good things to think about!
Ahhh I really like that image of Love and Time and how they interact with each other. We truly are changing and drifting at different speeds as we pass through Time. Well put.
As a wife and mother, I favor the line used in the Spiderman series; "with great power comes great responsibility." A godly wife and mother do both jobs out of reverence to the Lord and then to their husband and children.
Years ago, I watched a documentary-style show episode about two brothers running a farm restaurant. The entire episode they kept referencing their mother, who had died when they were very small. Everything about their lives and work and families was constantly referential to her and her influence on them. I thought how little the show's editors had picked up on this marvelous idea, that this woman who knew these boys for a few hazy baby years had indelibly marked their entire existence and vocation. I have carried that ever since as a picture of the immensity of the job, and the weight and gift of its deep, mutual impact.
I am thoroughly enjoying the motherhood posts this week. It is refreshing to see a much more beautiful view of motherhood than how it is so often reduced and degraded these days.
And there's something so profound about an 84-year old woman missing her mother the most. Our earthly parents can truly be a wonderful representation of the divine nurturing that our God will one day fulfill. Until then, we cling to our temporary depictions of this love that are there to show us that we have a deeper longing for a love even more complete, and when we find a close image of this promise, we will miss it dearly until we are called home again and can feel this love in all its glory.
Also, I keep trying to give myself these reminders--that one day I will no longer see the people I so enjoy seeing now. That one day I'll only be able to call my mother through a prayer, or hear her voice through a recording, or see her face in a picture. That my relationships will shift and change drastically by the time my journey is complete. That the people I love most in the here and now will one day be distant, faded memories. And I suppose that sounds like a discouraging thought, but I find it important to keep close in mind, because if I don't, then I will fail to appreciate these relationships before it's too late. How tragic it would be to look up in 30 years filled with regret for a person I didn't cherish as much as I should have. How heartbreaking it would be to lose someone without acknowledging how nice it was to find them. And I am certainly excited for all of the faces I shall meet tomorrow, but I can't even imagine how much I'll miss the faces of today.
Anyway, I've rambled on for long enough but I love how much your article gave me to think about, and I appreciate the reminder to value the amazing people I have in my life and not take them for granted, especially my mother as we celebrate all that mothers do for us this weekend.
Your ramblings, as you call them, are really wonderful thoughts. Thank you for sharing them. It was a profound and sobering moment when my neighbor shared with me how much she missed her mother. I've had it in the back of my mind since then. I've been thinking about how Love and Time seem to work together by pulling in opposite directions. Love sees the person dense with layered Time: when I see my children, I see them as they were from their first day until now. I see my parents as they were when I was little and as they are now all at once. All that Time and Love makes them a solid presence in my life. They feel almost immovable. But Time is pulling them away and me. We are changing and drifting at different speeds on the same river. Sometimes we are neck and neck, sometimes further apart. Eventually, one of us will pull into harbor and tie off and the other will be left to drift further down.
That's the image I've been thinking about since my neighbor shared that with me, the density of a person's life, the weight of Love and Time. That's the feeling of Home, right? A place we have loved and spent time. Or part of it, I think.
Anyway, thank you for reading. I'm really glad it gave you some good things to think about!
Ahhh I really like that image of Love and Time and how they interact with each other. We truly are changing and drifting at different speeds as we pass through Time. Well put.
As a wife and mother, I favor the line used in the Spiderman series; "with great power comes great responsibility." A godly wife and mother do both jobs out of reverence to the Lord and then to their husband and children.
Yes and Amen!
Years ago, I watched a documentary-style show episode about two brothers running a farm restaurant. The entire episode they kept referencing their mother, who had died when they were very small. Everything about their lives and work and families was constantly referential to her and her influence on them. I thought how little the show's editors had picked up on this marvelous idea, that this woman who knew these boys for a few hazy baby years had indelibly marked their entire existence and vocation. I have carried that ever since as a picture of the immensity of the job, and the weight and gift of its deep, mutual impact.
This is such a well-done and lovely article. ❤️
Oh, this is lovely! What a tribute to her presence, brief though it was, in their lives.
Thank you for reading and for your encouragement!